Awkward
by Insert a Catchy Penname Here
Summary: There really is no other word to describe our favorite blonde Gokai Green...Doc/Ahim


Awkward

Author Note: *Holds up shield* I can explain! I just think this couple is underappreciated…I can see Ahim with all the guys but Joe. I mean, it's cute and all, but…I don't know. But I do really like this couple, and thus, I write! And don't kill me!

Oh, but review. I like that.

_XXXXXX _

"Ah…." Doc winced in obvious pain as he dropped almost completely to his knees, clutching his just-burnt hand, "hot, hot, HOT!" He scrambled to the sink and stuck his hand under the water…that was on hot.

His yowl echoed through the Gallen. Marvelous, who'd been asleep in his chair, groaned a protest and went right back to the land of nod. Joe didn't even pause his situps, and apparently Luka hadn't heard, considering she didn't come down from lookout. Gai fell off the couch in surprise, scrambling up as Ahim set down her tea cup.

"Hakasae?" they spoke in unison, walking as one into the kitchen where he was cooking diner.

"Ow…" he groaned, clutching his red hand with his other. Ahim was the first to notice, and she scurried over, reaching for it.

"Did you burn yourself? That does not look pleasant…" she turned it over carefully, being careful to only touch his unburned wrist.

"It's nothing…" he slipped his wrist free, laying it gently on a pile of rags and reaching again for the aloe vera, "I've got it…"

"Let me help you…" seeing as he was not needed in this particular situation, the redhead quickly slipped out, chuckling to himself.

"No thanks, I'm good," he caught her wrist with his unburned hand, smiling assuringly, "I'm the one who touched the stove without a mitt."

"Demo…Hakasae…" she tried again and, this time, managed to seize the bottle of thick, blue liquid, "you help us out on the ship so much. It is the least I can do for you."

"The least you can do is nothing," he took the top of the bottle in his hand, "look, Ahim….I'll tell you if I need help. I've got this, it's no big deal."

"It is to me," she promptly jerked the container free and globbed some on her fingers, starting to rub it with a soft touch to his burn. When he made the mistake of wincing, she cringed and started to try and rub even more gently, which resulted in her fingers slipping, which caused him more pain.

"Thanks, Ahim," he finally managed when she'd put back on the lid and looked at him with her big, innocent, worried eyes, "it…feels better already." Honestly it was stinging like the dickens and the areas were her nails had pricked were on fire, but…it was the thought that counted.

"Hakasae…" she took his wrist again, now with both hands, and guided him to her quarters' bathroom.

Reaching up, she grasped the wrap in one hand and unwound it around the injured skin, sweat beading her forehead. It was clear she was nervous….he apparently didn't hide his discomfort well before. Although…was it just him, or did the air in the room seem to spark whenever she stroked his limb?

When she'd finished and she stuck a pin to keep it wound, it promptly hit the red flesh, and he couldn't help but yelp.

"Cominasai…" she was pleading with him, clasping her hands like she was begging, "Cominasai…"

"It's fine…" he exhaled, carefully repositioning the pin so that it would just hold the wrap around his hurt hand, "don't worry about it. I'm okay, I promise." He even threw in an assuring smile…not that it worked on her.

"Cominiasai…" she threw her arms around his neck, burying her teary, upset face in his neck. He, with his good hand, rubbed her back, murmuring that he was okay and that he was grateful for her trying to help.

XXXXXX

"I am _stuffed_," the Pirate Captain groaned loudly, rubbing his full stomach as he rose, "I'm beat. G' nite."

"Beat from what?" Luka murmured a little, "doing nothing?" She didn't miss the glare he threw at her as he headed to his quarters, but she just smiled and followed his lead, "Same here."

"I've got the dishes," Gai volunteered quickly, starting to clean up and push Doc gently out of the way. However, he was thinking hard, so the push made him fall back and land in Marvelous' chair with a _thump. _

"Hakasae!" Gokai Pink was at his side instantly, grasping both of his hands without thinking.

He yelped, and she dropped them, making the half of him she'd lifted flop back, causing his head to smack against the top of the chair. He groaned again, and she covered his mouth, eyes shiny with tears.

"Come'…." She apologized frantically, "disabo?" He nodded a _yes _to her question and struggled up himself, putting his unbandaged hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just going to bed," he assured her gently, "see you in morning, alright?"

She nodded after him, staring at her feet. Suddenly, she felt another hand on her shoulder, one to firm and big to be Doc's. Her brown eyes met Joe's black ones as he told her with his eyes that _Don't worry about him_. She just nodded weakly as he headed for his own quarters, sinking into the couch.

"You okay?" the redhead inquired, and she jumped slightly, forgetting he was still cleaning up the table.

"Yes, Gai-san," she tried to assure him, but her trembling voice was a dead giveaway, "I am just…thinking."

"You're worried about Dr. Don, aren't you?" he stored away the last plate and strode to sit beside her.

"I just keep hurting him every time I try and help…" she ducked her head, blinking just as quickly, "…I am worried for his safety."

"Honestly, I think we all are," Gokai Silver chuckled, "you're an amazing person and Pirate. I like how you're always trying to look out for us. Demo…we're Pirates, too. All of us…even Hakasae…we'll be alright. Quite honestly, sometimes you're the one to worry for."

She took this the wrong way, and the tears splashed over brown eyes, "Come'…" She quickly rose and exited to her own quarters for the night, leaving a very confused Gai behind.

XXXXXXX

"Is there anything else you need?" Doc inquired to the former princess. She was stuck in bed with a chest cold, and she shook her head weakly.

"Do not worry for me…" she whispered through her congestion, "disabo?"

"I'm not the sick one," he shook his head, grasping one of her hands, "if there's anything you need…just call for me."

"Hai…" she could still feel his gentle, concerned grasp on her skin ever after he'd left the room.

She just felt so horrible about this. Gai was right, she'd decided: The others were always fussing over her. She was the weak link, the helpless princess of the crew. Why did they even bother with her? Doc's hand was burnt badly, and he was looking pale himself…she longed to get up and assist him instead. But him, Luka, and Marvelous wouldn't let her.

She jumped at the sound of a wail echoing through the Gallen. It could only be Doc's, and she started to wrestle out of the sheets. But Luka came out of nowhere, pushing her gently but firmly right back against about a trillion pillows.

"He just fell down a couple of steps," she assured her…or tried to, "he's alright."

"Hakasae…" she moaned, sliding under the mountain of warmth.

"Stop worrying about Don Doglier and start worrying about you," the tomboyish girl commanded, "he's not the one who's bedridden and coughing up both his lungs."

"Demo…" she burst into a fit of coughing before feverishly finishing, "his hand…is burnt…and he's…exhausted."

"So are you," she wrapped the sheets around her shaking body and patted her back, "just calm down and go to sleep. I'll be back in a little while, alright?" She just nodded and closed her eyes, searching for sleep.

XXXXXX

"I feel horrible," Doc flopped back on the main room's couch, "I just can't help but think it had something to do with my cooking."

"She left her window open, that's why she's sick," Luka rolled her eyes, "don't worry about you. Worry about _her_."

That's when the crew saw a side of him they rarely saw…ever.

"I _AM _worried about her!" he shouted almost at the top of his lungs, "I am SO worried about her! Can't you _SEE YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE IS CARES FOR HER?" _

The silence was eery and still for what seemed like an entirnity. Finally, she rose and shoved him against the wall painfully, glaring as she stormed to the lookout.

XXXXXX

"They're…" the small princess was sobbing into a pillow, "fighting…for me." She coughed all that harder until she felt two hands on shoulders.

"Don't cry, Ahim…" the blonde sat beside her and pressed her face into his neck, rubbing her shaking back and patting between her shoulders, "don't cry…calm down. Just calm down, it's alright…breathe." He repeated these words until she finally inhaled shakily and deeply.

"Hakasae…" he shook his hand and pressed a finger to her lips.

"Shhhhh…" he hushed her, "come on. Breathe…." When she kept taking slow, shakily, sob-coated breathes, he nodded and kept encouraging, "That's right…ah….in….out…there you go…better?"

She cracked a tiny, watery smile and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Hakasae…" Her voice barely above a whisper, and he rocked her slowly with a look of sympathy on his face.

"Here…" she was much alarmed when he tried to pick her up, "uh…help." He smiled sheepishly, and she smiled a little more, getting to her knees so he could reach her easier and carry her best he could bridal style to the bathroom and set her on the sink counter.

When he slid the full spoon into her mouth, she recoiled and felt her now burning throat. He apologized all the time he was putting her back in her bed and ran a cool cloth over her face as she leaned back against the pillows. She nodded her thanks, reaching for his good hand, then frowning at the burnt one.

"Oh, this?" he waved it around a little, "you did just the trick on it. It's almost peeled…which means it's almost healed." He grinned a little grin, and she purged a soft giggle of flusterment.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he pressed his hand to it and shook his head. Being a sort of doctor, he knew her throat was swollen and she didn't need to be talking. She nodded and closed her eyes, not letting go of his hands as she fell asleep.

"Not a bad job," Luka's voice about scared him out of his skin, "she really likes you, dude." Before he could ask what she meant, she was gone.

XXXXXX

"Arigato," Gokai Pink smiled, her voice strong again and her energy returning after a couple of days in bed. Gokai Green blushed a little as she took her cup of tea from his hands and smiled down at her.

"It's no problem…for what you've done for me," he seated himself on her bed edge and sipped his own cup.

"Eh?" she blinked her confusion.

"Marvelous said this, too," the engineer wrung his hands together, looking at his shoes, "things have felt alright since you arrived. We're all blessed to have…_I'm _blessed to have ever met you and to even know you."

"Don…" she uttered his real name, curling up in his chest, and he wrapped his scrawny arms around her, "you're so awkward."

"There really isn't another word for me, is there?" he agreed, "thanks, Ahim. For everything you've done."

"The same to you," she felt his heart, then her own, and he just knew what she was implying, "the same to you."

_XXXXXXX _

Author Note: 3 (It's a heart)


End file.
